Should you expect the same quality of life after leaving the UAE, or ditch your desires at departures?
Julian Pletts says...Don't be sorry to want the best
At the close of the Indian Property Show this week, 7DAYS heard how Indian expats living in relative luxury in Dubai increasingly want the same standards when they return home.
A swimming pool on the roof, a gym to fight the bulge, a beach within reach and adjacent golf courses. Like the Indian community, I am guilty of getting to used to such perks.
But I have to ask, what is wrong with enjoying the good things in life?
That is one of the main reasons that many of us got on the plane in the first place, the prospect of year round sun and tax-free living.
The question of whether we should expect this standard of living elsewhere is topical right now.
As someone hailing from Europe - where many nations are currently implementing hard-hitting austerity measures - the answer is definitely, no, I shouldn't.
But the truth is I do, and that's why I spend far more during my trips home than I would if I was living there.
Of course there must be a certain dose of realism applied. For me that means saving enough money so the standard of living can be enjoyed to a certain extent when I move back to Blighty - minus the weather...
Call us 'Jumeirah Janes' or 'Marina Mikes', but if you are willing to work for it, there's no need to settle for second best when you leave Dubai.
Mark Summers says...Creating a lifestyle beats copying one
Visitors to the Middle East used to be content to take home a stuffed camel or a roll of silk - but apparently today's expat wants to take their entire Dubai lifestyle back with them.
Dubai-based Indians, looking for property at home, are insisting on upmarket features so their properties are spacious, sporting, and secure.
That has given rise to a swathe of new projects in cities like Bangalore and Chennai which feature the golf courses, cricket stadiums and motorsport circuits that were once a ubiquitous feature of almost every project unveiled in these parts.
Leaving aside my own personal prejudices about the dubious benefits of living next to racetracks or sports stadiums, surely trying to re-create Dubai living elsewhere is a futile pursuit.
In fact for a number of projects yet to get off the drawing board, it has proved hard enough trying to build them here in the first place.
Like a US tourist who, inspired by a trip to Europe, builds an English castle or Dutch windmill when they return home, such projects rarely have the impact their owner intends.
The great cities of the world are the result of centuries of gradual change, absorbing the styles and traditions of the foreign visitors that pass through. It'll take more than plonking down the odd golf course villa to join them in offering a truly enviable lifestyle.
© 7Days 2011
